Amelia Earhart is shown on Jan. 12, 1935, after the first
Hawaii-to-California flight. She was the first pilot to
succeed at flying the route.

(FOX NEWS) – Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart departed on a
journey to become the first pilot to successfully fly solo from
Hawaii to mainland United States on this day in history, Jan.
11, 1935. 

The daring flight across a vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean
had claimed the lives of 10 previous aviators. She earned
$10,000 from promoters in Hawaii for her death-defying
achievement.

Earhart also hoped to promote a future in which commercial
air travel closed the distances around the world. 

Hawaii celebrates the great aviator.

  
 Nancy Kerrigan                             Tonya Harding
  
 

Olympic hopeful Nancy Kerrigan was attacked at a Detroit
ice rink following a practice session two days before the
Olympic trials. A man hit Kerrigan with a club on the back
of her knee, causing the figure skater to cry out in pain and bewilderment.

When the full story emerged a week later, the nation became
caught up in a real-life soap opera.

One of Kerrigan’s chief rivals for a place on the U.S. Figure
Skating Team was Tonya Harding. 

In mid-December 1993, Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly,
approached Shawn Eckardt about somehow eliminating
Kerrigan from the competition. Eckardt set up a meeting
with Derrick Smith and Shane Stant, who agreed to injure
Kerrigan for a fee.          

December 28, 1978

United Airlines Flight 173 was a scheduled flight from John F.
Kennedy International Airport in New York City to Portland
International Airport in Portland, Oregon, with a scheduled
stop in Denver, Colorado.

On Thursday, December 28, 1978, the aircraft flying this route
ran out of fuel while troubleshooting a landing gear problem
and crashed in a suburban Portland neighborhood near NE
157th Avenue and East Burnside Street.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

The crash site as it looks today.

Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, returned safely
to Earth after an historic six-day journey.

On December 21, Apollo 8 was launched by a three-stage Saturn
5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with astronauts Frank
Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders aboard.

On Christmas Eve, the astronauts entered into orbit around the
moon, the first manned spacecraft ever to do so.

From left Astronauts Borman, Anders and Lovell
after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean and
being recovered by the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown.            
           

                           

THE FIRST IMAGE TAKEN BY HUMANS OF THE
WHOLE EARTH on December 22. 

Truman defies the Chicago Tribune and wins in 1948.

On December 26, 1972, former President Harry S. Truman        
was admitted to Kansas City’s Research Hospital and
Medical Center with pneumonia. He developed multiple
organ failure, fell into a coma, and died.
 

Then-President Richard Nixon called Truman a man of
“forthrightness and integrity” who had a deep respect
for the office he held and for the people he served, and
who “supported and wisely counseled each of his
successors.”

   
  
Official portrait of President Truman by Greta Kempton(1945)